Digital sustainability and the art of decision-making*

Jeremy Ottevanger

University of Leicester & Museum of London

* this title is no longer all that appropriate but I still quite like it

What is “sustainability”?

environmental stewardship?

financial stability?

the ability to “keep stuff

working”?

hmm...

California Academy of Science roof by mrsmullerauh http://flickr.com/photos/frankenhut/2869204328Foreign currency and coins by bradipo http://flickr.com/photos/bradipo/1435739708

Car fail by Tony G/Fail Blog http://failblog.org/2009/05/20/car-fail-5/Blind monks examining an elephant by Hanabusa Itchō http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Blind_monks_examining_an_elephant.jpg

A balancing act

Proposition: A resource is “sustained” if it continues to yield value.It is only “sustainable” if one can justify the cost of ensuring this.

Street Theatre, Sacre Coeur by Taylor Dundee http://flickr.com/photos/thepatersonsphotos/3980109705/

Three legs

Value

Factors promoting or

inhibiting value

Resources

Milking stool from http://www.harvestofhistory.org/primary_source_detail.html?ps_id=42

Value

…falls out of your mission

Sequoia plantation in Washington Park by eyeslikeacavefish http://www.flickr.com/photos/cavefish/4091463549/

Factors

…how you generate value (or overcome barriers to it) e.g. Keep content current Build new bits Moderate forums, curate UGC Fix broken software …and so ad infinitum

Worm tube with lots of tiny cool things by eyeslikeacavefish http://www.flickr.com/photos/cavefish/3744445344/

Resources

• $£¥€₪₣• ♀♂• The big one: Opportunity cost

Original picture WWF currency donation bowl by MarkPritchardhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/toobeautiful/469568511/

Decision-making

• Effective measurement of value• Effective identification of all the costs• Uncertainty, attitudes to risk• Communication of value and

resource requirements

friction = failure

Yarn choice by eyeslikeacavefish http://www.flickr.com/photos/cavefish/4094800304/

Scenarios of change

Not too sure of the provenance of this I’m afraid. Looks like Teahupo’o to me.

The balance upset…

Scenarios of change to Value Beneficial factors Barriers Resourcing Decision-making

Original pic Spill: disaster in the making by Kami Jo http://www.flickr.com/photos/kamijo/1680558931/

Lessig's Modalities of Regulation

From http://www.socialtext.net/codev2/index.cgi?what_things_regulate. I dearly hope this is CC

Legal constraints

Copyright and licensing in flux

Kindling by oskay @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/oskay/3470579202

Market constraints

Recession

Norms

Evolving patterns of:

Digital usage

Authenticity

Authority

Thanks, TriMet

Architecture

“The world as it is”

(or as we’ve made it)

Millau Bridge by eyeslikeacavefish http://www.flickr.com/photos/cavefish/2828267787/

The architecture of technology

− Operating systems− Programming

languages− Lots of big software− Hardware− Infrastructure− The internet…

Today's ‘Underappreciated Technology of the Day’ by kevindooley http://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/2234031789/

Building and operating

Capital and operating costs

Decision making after build

Build phase (and its economics) influencing the operating phase. Accountability of builders to operators.

Various models of build and initial operation in a project-oriented world, such as:

− funding to build and then run for limited period

− build only

− build with business model for the futureb

Seeing Europeana as a constraint

A market constraint:

− competing with Google

− possibly tied to funding for digitisation Technical and infrastructural architectureT

...but a constraint over which we have some influence

Legal constraint: licensing deliverables. Will it connect with legal deposit?

Norms...?

Thanks for hearing me out :-}

Jeremy Ottevanger

University of Leicester/Museum of London,

with the support of Lexara

jottevanger@museumoflondon.org.uk

Twitter: jottevanger

Blog: http://doofercall.blogspot.com